No. 7: 'He wanted to kill me so bad,' victim had warned(June 4, 2009)

Dec. 31, 2009

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Just more than a year after the Forest Hill couple were married, the victim in Tuesday's murder-suicide filed for a restraining order, claiming her husband repeatedly threatened to kill her and specifically expressed a desire to "spread my blood all over."

Rapides Parish sheriff's officials said James Anthony Carroll, 38, shot and killed his wife, 26-year-old Rebecca Lynn Carroll, and then himself on Tuesday morning at the Bait-N-Beer store on U.S. Highway 165 just outside of Forest Hill.

A customer came into the store, which was owned by Rebecca Carroll, around 8 a.m. Tuesday and found the two bodies.

According to court documents, on Sept. 5, 2000, Rebecca Carroll filed for a temporary restraining order, claiming the most recent instance of abuse happened the day before and that her husband had slapped and shoved her and also had threatened her with bodily harm and taking her life.

In the petition, she said she'd planned to go to Alexandria with her mother and take her then-3-month-old son with her, but her husband wouldn't allow it.

"He doesn't want us around my mom because he doesn't like my family," Rebecca Carroll said in the petition. "He doesn't want me to have any contact with my family. He gets mad if I do."

Rebecca Carroll said she and James Carroll argued, and "he told me that he wanted to kill me so bad. He said he wanted to shoot my lip and spread my blood all over. He always tells me over and over how he is gonna have to kill me, that he doesn't want to but he is gonna have to."

The couple married when Rebecca Carroll was 16 and James Carroll -- who went by "Jimbo" -- was a day shy of his 29th birthday. Their son, Drake, was born June 2, 2000, and turned 9 years old on the day his father killed his mother and then himself.

James Carroll was a constable in Justice of the Peace Ward 4 and the son of Forest Hill Police Chief Garland "Bear" Carroll. The two worked together in the lawn maintenance business, Cenla Grounds Keepers.

A family member of James Carroll, who declined to be identified, said James and Rebecca were good people and that what happened Tuesday is something both families will have to deal with forever. Drake, the man said, is the focus of everyone.

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The relative said James Carroll had spoken to his father early Tuesday and that he'd said he was on his way to Procter & Gamble where they were doing a job. No one knows what happened between that time and when James Carroll went to his wife's store.

In the petition for the restraining order, Rebecca Carroll said she feared her life.

"I am scared of him, and he knows it and loves it," she said in the petition.

In previous instances of abuse, Rebecca Carroll said in the petition, James Carroll had treated her badly, and every time she told him she wanted to leave, he would hit her and tell her that he would kill her if she took the baby from him.

"He has woke me up at night asking me if I wanna die, and I'll tell him, 'No,'" she said in the petition. "And he'd ask, 'Why not?' He is always threatening to kill me. He tells me don't make me get crazy and kill me."

Rebecca Carroll claimed in the petition that her husband called her names and was "always" putting her down.

"I found a letter that he'd written saying that I never took his threats seriously, but by the time anyone found the letter they'd know just (how serious he was,)" she wrote in the petition.

The temporary restraining order was granted the same day it was filed with an expiration date of Sept. 15, 2000. A court order for both Carrolls to appear in court for Sept. 8, 2000, was issued.

The matter was dismissed on Sept. 8, 2000, as Rebecca Carroll didn't appear to continue the restraint order process.

Court records show Rebecca Carroll had filed for divorce earlier this year. In the divorce petition filed March 10, she said the two had been living separately since January 2009. The Carrolls had been married for close to 10 years.

In the petition, Rebecca Carroll was asking for joint custody of Drake, with each of them getting equal time with the boy and a court order to get her maiden name -- Clark -- back.

James Carroll was ordered to appear April 13 if he contested the divorce or any of his wife's demands. According to the documents, he didn't contest the divorce, although the divorce hadn't been granted as the waiting period hadn't been met.

Sheriff's officials said the case remains under investigation. At this time they don't have a motive for the murder.

Funeral services for Rebecca Carroll are set for 10 a.m. Saturday in Elwood Baptist Church, Forest Hill, with arrangements under direction of Rush Funeral Home, Oakdale.